Australia Bans Online Poker with New Laws
This was published 26-03-2017As Australia passes new legislation that will essentially ban all forms of online poker, many are wondering how this will affect the greater global online poker industry. Last week, poker players Down Under were dealt a significant blow when the federal government passed the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016. Gambling authorities’ justifiable desire to prevent match fixing during sports snowballed into a review of the entire industry last and eventually a proposal to rehaul Australian gambling legislation.
Top gaming companies have already indicated that they will be exiting the Australian online gambling market, if they haven’t already done so. PokerStars will stop offering real money online poker, but has indicated that its brand will remain in place to offer play for fun games. Earlier this year, 888 announced that it would be leaving the market before the anti-gambling law was made official.
Leading up to the passing of the legislation, online poker proponents fought a fierce battle to have poker recognized as a game of skill. This would have provided online poker with a last minute reprieve from being included in the new Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill. However, federal lawmakers voted against the carveout by a large majority, and the death knell was sounded for online poker in Australia.
In the meantime, groups such as the Australian Online Poker Alliance vow that they will continue to fight the law, especially since no date has been set yet.
Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm, who fought unsuccessfully for the online poker carveout said about the new bill: “It’s stupid! If you want to play poker, there are lots of opportunities in Australia, at casinos and tournaments. It’s not as if there isn’t a great deal of poker playing already, but they’re just stopping it online. The whole world is online now.”
